Tuesday, April 5, 2011

We had gone to Kilkinney Marina since there was a line storm coming and didn’t want to wash Hoolie free of bank mud which he would have accumulated in his trips to shore. None of the nearby anchorages had ramp access, all were forage as best you could. Of course, Hoolie wouldn’t have minded but we weren’t keen on doing the cleaning. The dock at Kilkinney Marina was right out of Deliverance - but it worked for us, at least for one night but the storms turned out to be a non-event. We had some lightning and rain but nothing special.

The trip to Isle of Hope Marina was wild. The wind peaked at 39 kts!! The ride through Hell Gate was wild (the southern version on the ICW, not in NY). On the way down I wondered how it got its name but going north today with the wind topping 30 kts at a right angle to the direction of travel pushing us to shore with a very narrow channel, I could understand the name. The shore was close enough to spit at and the wind and waves were pushing us right at it with the depth sounder showing less and less water! I had no sail up but the boat was heeled over at bout 30 degrees, it was a memorable ride. It at times like this I wished I had a picture but we were otherwise occupied so please forgive me!

The Isle of Hope Marina is the opposite of Kilkinney Marina. The marina has recently been renovated with new concrete docks, the setting is calm and they have two courtesy cars (free of charge) to explore Savannah – and the rate is cheaper! We plan on staying for a week to let the weather warm up. We’ve learned that we’re ahead of the snowbirds coming back north – they are all waiting for summer on their way north, we should have done the same thing.